British High Commission, Dar es Salaam

In a unique and novel arrangement, the British High Commission in Dar es Salaam has recently moved into new premises shared with German, Dutch and EC partners. Construction of Umoja ('Unity') House finished on schedule in August 2002 and the BHC moved in at the end of September.

Co-location in Umoja House, which has followed almost a year of difficult temporary working arrangements for BHC staff, involves close cooperation with the other resident partners. Relocation manager Louise Taylor said, 'The UK leads on security, the Dutch are responsible for the phones and TV and the Germans run the cleaning contract'. The chair of the joint management committee will also be rotated annually.

Aiming for an impressive but friendly building that would be enjoyable to work in, the architects also had to accommodate the extra flexibility and security required in a shared working space.

The building is very secure but the design also attempts to ensure that it is welcoming, relaxed and easy to use. The common areas, those shared by all the missions and thus also most frequently used by visitors, are located on the ground floor in individual rounded pods surrounded by planting and designed to be informal places of social activity as well as places of work. Views into, through and out of the building at this level offer a transparency which makes the security less oppressive.

'We wanted the people working in the building to enjoy coming to work,' said the architects, 'to enjoy using the building and, as a result, to nurture it as they would their home'.

Most of the building is constructed from local materials. The main structure is made of locally available concrete and sustainable African hardwoods have been used where possible for joinery. Natural ventilation, stored rainwater, solar heating for water, passive shading and a range of other devices have all been used to reduce the buildings energy consumption.